The Association of Voluntary Blood Donors Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), said it was undertaking a seven-year project to ensure free maternal and infant blood transfusion in the country.
This means that all pregnant women and infants who visit any health facility and need blood could easily and readily access it at the various blood banks by 2020.
Mr Francis Jebuni, Founder and President of the Association, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at the weekend that the NGO was undertaking a voluntary national blood donation exercise to ensure the success of the project.
He said though funding was a challenge, that could not stop the NGO from achieving its objective and appealed to other NGOs to support the project.
Mr Jebuni said this after his NGO had undertaken a blood donation exercise in Sunyani.
Blood samples of more than 200 people were taken for test on hypertension and diabetes after which the donation was done.
Mr Jebuni expressed concern about the frequent shortage of blood at the various blood banks and emphasised the need to support the National Blood Transfusion Service to store the required quantities of blood.
He refuted the wrong impression of a section of the public that donors fell sick regularly after donating blood, stressing that bad eating habits and poor hygiene rather accounted for almost 80 percent of all illnesses.
Mr Jebuni appealed to the public to support the project adding �we don�t fall sick after donating blood�.
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